Magazine expert Samir Husni said the prohibition on nudity probably alienated far more readers than it attracted.

"Playboy and the idea of non-nudity is sort of an oxymoron," said Husni, a journalism professor at the University of Mississippi. "They are always going to have the stereotype as a nude magazine."

Now that nudity is back in its fold, Playboy is still going to have to figure out how to appeal to a younger audience that has grown up in a digitally driven age where nudity has become commonplace.

"The people who grew up with Playboy magazine are starting to fade away so they will have to figure out what the millennial generation wants in the 21st century if they are going to survive," Husni said.

That challenge may fall largely on Cooper Hefner, 25, who replaced his 90-year-old father as Playboy's chief creative officer last summer.

Playboy re-embraced nudity with an issue boasting several pictorial spreads of naked women, including Miss March, Elizabeth Elam, and Miss April, Nina Daniele. The issue also features an interview with actress Scarlett Johansson and pieces on actor Adam Scott and CNN host Van Jones for those who say they only read Playboy for the articles.